


Brother

by Zellua



Category: Fantasy War Tactics (Video Game)
Genre: Artistic Liberties Regarding Jin's Backstory, Family, Light Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-18 00:00:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7291444
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zellua/pseuds/Zellua
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jin will fight for her brother, even if he is dead. Cross-posted from FWT fan forums.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brother

 

Jin hadn't been fond of the idea of having a younger sibling.

"Mummy, I don't want a baby brother; babies are noisy and gross!" Jin had whined at that time. After all, all Auntie Maia's baby ever did was eat, sleep, poop and scream whenever Jin visited her. And it was an ugly little fat thing too! Totally nowhere near as cute as her cat doll Lilac!

Her mother simply smiled and patted Jin on the head. "You'll come to love your baby brother one day, sweetheart."

Jin pouted.

 

* * *

 

Jin remembered the day her brother was born.

It was a calm, moonlit night. The family had just finished dinner, and Jin's father was playing with her while her mother fondly watched from an armchair, one hand draped over her belly. It had been very sudden: one moment Jin was shrieking in delight as her father piggybacked her around the living room, the next moment her mother's voice could be heard, loud piercing shrieks of pain mingling with Jin's own shrieks. 

It was a scary sight for young Jin. Jin hadn't understood what was going on, except that mummy was in pain and Mummy's arms were wrapped protectively around her belly. Was it her brother causing trouble again? But, he had never caused mummy this much pain before...

Jin's father quickly set her down as he rushed to his wife's side. "Honey? Honey, can you hear me?"

A weak nod was all that he got as Jin's mother continued to wail. "Alright honey, listen to me. Take a deep breath; yes that's it, now another one..."

All this while, Jin was frozen in fear, barely daring to breathe as she watched her father attempt to calm her mother. After what felt like an eternity, he turned his head to Jin. "Jin sweetie, can you please run over to Auntie Mel's place? Tell her that the baby's on his way."

Jin didn't even bother to nod in affirmation; she was out of the house as fast as her tiny feet could carry her.

 

* * *

 

Contrary to Jin's initial beliefs, she did end up loving her brother. A lot.

Sure, he was noisy as he cried throughout the nights and he was annoying as he couldn't do anything for himself, but watching his tiny hand curl around her own little hand... To Jin, it was an indescribable wonder.

Her parents now laughed whenever they bring up Jin's past vehemence against her brother. Jin always whined and stomped her foot whenever that happened.

 

* * *

 

Jin's brother Lan was a sweet and docile boy, an interesting contrast to Jin's own personality.

Jin preferred rough and tumble play. He preferred to read books.

Jin favoured the outdoors. He favoured the inside of his room.

While Jin was a girl who wasn't afraid to speak her own mind, he would rather keep his thoughts to himself.

Despite all those differences, Jin eagerly took care of her little brother and Lan held Jin up on a pedestal. Jin would help him with one of the new puzzles that their father had bought for him, and he would join in during Jin's games of tag with the other village children.

Those were the days that Jin wistfully wished she could return to.

 

* * *

 

The first blow to their perfect little world came when Jin's father passed away.

Jin and her brother didn't get the full story, but Jin had pieced it all together from whatever snippets the villagers had whispered when they thought they were out of earshot of the children.

He had been killed because he refused to pay the new taxes levied by the New Elian Kingdom.

"I'm sorry for your loss," the villagers said as the coffin was lowered into the ground. Jin nodded mutely as she gripped her brother's hand tighter. He was crying, her mother was crying too and Jin could feel hot tears welling up in her eyes as well.

It wasn't fair. Jin was only twelve, and Lan had only turned eight a month ago. It wasn't fair that they had to lose their father just because he had no money for the kingdom.

"I'm sorry for your loss," the villagers repeated over and over.

 

* * *

 

The next blow came years later after Jin had buried her father.

It had been a gradual and painful death as Jin's mother wasted away due to disease. She had a cough at first. It was nothing unusual, so she simply took a folk remedy, thinking that it would be over within a week. Instead of getting better, the cough had worsened instead. Jin's mother brushed off her children's concerns, choosing to continue taking the herbs despite the lack of results.

She never recovered. Within the month, the coughing developed into attacks, completely robbing her of her breath as she coughed and wheezed. The next week, splotches of green and purple began to bloom all over her body. The pain began the week after that, streaks of fire burning through her nerves as she screamed and screamed and screamed-

Jin and Lan had panicked then. Jin left the house to fetch the village doctor while her brother stayed behind to look after their mother. When Jin threw open the door and the old doctor saw Jin's mother, he shook his head.

"There is no cure for her illness."

Jin had raged at the doctor, begging him to save her mother, she couldn't just leave her mother to die, please doctor-

The doctor sighed in resignation. "No one even knows exactly what causes this disease. It seemingly attacks people from any background. Research on it only started about thirty years ago when there was an epidemic in Glory, and that was only because the royals had been staying there."

Jin clenched her fists. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair, it wasn't fair, it wasn't fair-

"I hope for your mother's sake that she passes on soon. The pain will only get worse from here."

 

* * *

 

Jin was seventeen when she became an orphan. As she watched her brother sob as they laid their mother to rest, Jin swore to protect her brother no matter the cost.

After all, Lan is all that remains of her world now.

 

* * *

 

"Please, sister! Teach me how to hunt!"

"No! You're too young! What if you get hurt?"

"But big sis! You've been hunting since you were ten!"

"No!"

"Big sis!"

It took all of four days of pestering before Jin finally broke down. She never could quite say no to her brother.

 

* * *

 

Jin's heart froze when the draft call came. All healthy males aged fifteen to forty had to go.

Lan had turned fifteen two days before the announcement. 

When the soldiers from the army came for their village, Jin fought tooth and nail to keep her brother with her. 

"Missy, stand down now! Or else we shall use force to subdue you!"

"No! I won't let you take my brother! Why does the New Elian Kingdom need so many new recruits that they have to conscript soldiers anyway! "

"Missy!"

"No!" Jin roared as she prepared to strike down the officer before her with her mace.

A pair of arms reached from behind her, trying to restrain her. "Sis! Please don't!".

Jin twisted around to face the person holding her back, breaking out of the hold. "Lan!"

Her brother gave a small smile. "I'll go. Please, I don't want you to get hurt because of me."

"But I'm your sister! I can't just let you go to the army! It's dangerous!"

"Big sis, you've always looked after me. You've always been there for me whenever I was scared or hurt. You did your best to raise me ever since mum and dad died. This time, I want to be the one to make sure that you won't get hurt." He looked Jin straight in the eyes. "So please, let me go with them."

Jin's resolve crumbled.

"Alright everyone, follow me!" yelled the head officer as the soldiers and recruits trooped down the village path. 

Jin could only hope that she didn't make the wrong choice.

 

* * *

 

_Missing In Action._

Jin crumpled the letter and brought her mace down upon it, shredding the sheet of paper. If the New Elian Kingdom couldn't be bothered to even search for her brother's company, then she would do it herself even if she turned the whole kingdom against her. 

At least the letter had told of Lan's last whereabouts.

 

* * *

 

Jin cursed her luck when the World Reformation Council issued the migration prohibition order. Food was becoming scarce in Girgas, there was no work to be found due to the prohibition order, and the order did nothing to aid her in her search for her brother.

"It's just as well that I have yet to search through the whole of Girgas," she muttered to herself.

 

* * *

 

Jin was furious at the outsiders who had dared to attack her brethren. She swooped in, mace flailing left and right as she attempted to strike them down. They were too strong, however, and she was soon overpowered.

Fortunately, it was just a misunderstanding on her part. Jin only thought it was right to share part of her background as compensation for her subordinates' behaviour towards them earlier. She told them about her mercenary band, her search for her brother, the mercenaries' starvation...

But wait, were they part of the World Reformation Council too? After all, she would have noticed them had they been in Girgas before the migration prohibition order was implemented, which could only mean they reached Girgas recently.

Jin was relieved to find out that they weren't.

When the motley crew mentioned their search for the Ancient Magic Sigil, she could only think of one place. A place hidden by sand, too dangerous for her mercenaries to enter, and also the only place in Girgas that she had yet to search.

She decided to take them there.

 

* * *

 

Jin marveled as the boy - Lord - performed his magic at the Ancient Mana Sigil.

"Is this mana stabilization magic? It's beautiful. I wish my brother was around to witness it," she said wistfully, but Lord wasn't quite listening as he rifled through a shelf of papers in a corner of the room.

"Lord?" called one of his companions.

Lord remained silent as walked back to Jin and the others, a sheaf of papers in his hand.

The New Elian Kingdom's secret lab. Beast Rain Project. Live human experimentation. Soldiers used as subjects. Bearman. Success.

"What was your brother's name?"

"Lan! His name was Lan! He liked to read books, so he spoke a bit oddly- but he was just a simple hunter!"

"His name is listed under the failures. Perhaps he is... dead."

Jin pondered Lord's words. She had been searching for a while now, and while she remained hopeful at finding her brother again, a part of her had also been prepared for the worst.

"It's alright. I've been thinking for a while that he's... probably dead."

There was a brief silence among them all as Jin's words sunk in.

Jin made up her mind there and then.

"Take me with you! I want to make sure that a realm like the New Elian Kingdom never exists again!"

After all, all that was worth living for was gone. The least she could do was ensure that no other family would suffer the same fate as hers.


End file.
